The issue of suburban sprawl in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTA) has been increasing the pressures of land consumption, infrastructure development, resource consumption, and population growth over the past 50 years. The same can be said for many peripheral regions of Canada’s urban areas. In 2011, two thirds of the population of Canada lived in some form of suburban neighbourhood, and for the GTA a larger percentage of 86%. Though this growth continues, the vast expansions of automobile-dependent neighbourhoods have shown to have prolonged effects on resource consumption, carbon emissions, ecosystem devastation, declining health rates, social segregation, and the destruction of available agricultural land in Ontario. Yet these problems are not new. Neither are the solutions. Suburbs have been the centre of angst for many contemporary urban planners in North America for over thirty years. This has been the motivation for theories such as New Urbanism, Smart Growth, and Sustainable Development, three ideologies which have already been integrated into Provincial and Municipal Policies in Ontario. Most of which are focused on general themes of traditional aesthetics and densities of suburban development and most of which have failed to change the form of suburban development in Ontario. In order to explore these issues, this project looked at the current consumption data through ecological footprint analysis. The largest contributors to consumption included housing (energy), mobility, food, and threats to ecosystem services. In order to explore sustainability in the region, these themes were broken down into indicators which would analyse the growth patterns of the city. In order to compare these findings to current and future growth, growth typologies were created and ranked on performance through the process. Based on the performance conclusions, strategies, scenarios, and future recommendations were developed for future growth planning in the region.

Rapid urbanisation and globalisation are bringing increasingly complex issues to the forefront. Improper planning of human activities and over exploitation of the surrounding natural resources has successfully damaged the biodiversity and the natural processes. Today humanity is at a stage where these ecosystem services are essential for our existence but the resources have been exploited beyond their capacity. In addition, climate change adds additional long-term threats due to erratic weather patterns and extreme natural events. Coastal Lagoons are one such geographical feature where such complexities are very visible. Given the high fertility of the surrounding land and the biodiversity hosted by the lagoons, they are rich resource banks for settlements to thrive on. This has led to issues like water pollution, loss of biodiversity and urban encroachment. Despite protection from the international communities like the Ramsar Convention, most wetlands are degrading everyday. The need of the hour is to find innovative middle ground solutions, where the services can be availed without degrading the environment. Further, to plan these services in a way that they are instrumental in reviving and enriching the lost ecosystem. This project attempts to present on such design and strategy for the Muni-Pomadze Lagoon (MPL) in Ghana. Considering the complexity of the issues, the project chose a interdisciplinary and collaborative approach to produce a holistic solution for the site. Further, it uses the principles of Nature-Based Design and 4-P framework (People, Planet, Prosperity and Project) to guide and reflect on the design. (van Dorst & Duijvestein 2004) This report attempts to contribute to the research on interdisciplinary design processes. Further, it aims to be a starting point and guideline for the Forestry Commission and Municipal body of Winneba, for better conservation of the Muni Lagoon.